October 24, 2022

Isaiah 65: 24 (NIV)

“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear."

Don’t think thoughts you don’t want Jesus to hear.*

Often, while riding in the car or hiking along a trail, my husband would bring up a subject and I would say, “I was just thinking about that!” One night as he was presenting the lesson to our small group, he asked a question which I proceeded to answer with one of my typical smart remarks. He said, “When I was writing the lesson I knew that’s what you were going to say!”

Sometimes we’re just attuned to another person’s train of thought. Whatever triggers a notion in one mind fires the same brain waves in the other. It’s nice to be close to someone who knows us so well. It’s even better when the other person is God.

We are not the original intended audience for today's verse but it expresses a truth that can be found throughout scripture. God is so in tune to us, so anxious to hear from us, that he answers before we have even called. He hears what we have to say before we’ve finished saying it. Sometimes we forget how interested God is in our thoughts. When we allow unwholesomeness to occupy space in our minds, we are crowding God out.

How do impure thoughts get into our minds? We put them there with what we see and hear. Sometimes we don’t mean to expose ourselves to bad influences – life happens all around us if we aren’t living in a cave – but we contaminate our own minds by what we read, watch, listen to, and dwell on. The antidote to a dirty mind is to fill it with cleanliness. We must be selective in what we put in there. Read Philippians 4: 8 for some helpful hints on what to think about. Then perhaps when God leans in to listen to your thoughts, you won’t be embarrassed by what he hears.

It’s not enough to keep the bad stuff out. We’ve got to let the good stuff in.*